Happy New Years Eve!

Happy New Years Eve from my living room this morning at 7 o'clock am where I felt the need to document the sparkles I'm wearing to work. I may be completely unimpressed that I have to sit in an office until 4pm today but at least I look festive doing it.

We fly out at 8am for Florida tomorrow morning, which may really put a damper on our New Years plans tonight but hey, I think I'll try to make the best of it and enjoy a night with friends any ways. What's not to enjoy when you know you'll be sitting in the sun in a little over 24 hours? Nothing, that's what.

Here is my go to New Years Eve song for your listening pleasure:

Stay safe my friends and I will see you next year!

From the desk of:

Taylor Brown
Sparkle Enthusiast

2015: A Year in Review

I won't lie to you, 2015 was a challenging year. Not in that there was some major disaster that I can pinpoint all my problems to, but in that I had to struggle really hard to make good things happen this year. It was the amazing things in my life that made this year hard, which I guess you could say is a good thing!

This was my first year working a full time job and it definitely had it's ups and downs. I definitely find the office life very confining but at the same time I do recognize all that my job has afforded me to do. I bought a car with this job, and a house too, I went to Europe with this job, and I am a very lucky person who gets benefits, sick days, personal day, and vacation days. So I can't be too mad at it.

The year started off with a whole lot of house hunting and an unexpected trip to Florida, which was very nice and welcomed considering I had already reserved my entire vacation allotment to go to Europe in September so the idea of actually getting a vacation between the 1st and 9th month of the year was a treat!

House hunting was very emotionally trying for me. We had a very specific house in mind since we were planning on turning it into a duplex so our hunt usually took us to places that had "potential" but mostly places that seemed to be inhabited by serial killers. We finally found our perfect home in April after spending countless hours in danky basements, shivering our butts off on driveways discussing pros and cons, and an eternity crowded over paperwork.

We moved into our home in June and that's when the real fun began. I started a part time job at this time too so my entire summer was spent renovating while working 7 days a week. I kid you not, I spent a lot of time crying in our basement while scraping up tile and pulling up nails. If you can't tell yet I'm pretty soft, but hey, I get things done regardless.

By the time September came along we NEEDED a vacation and it was FINALLY time to go to Europe. Even though we were up to our eyeballs in stress and we spent the week before our vacation killing ourselves to get things done we ended up having the vacation of a lifetime. This was the first time I really travelled, as opposed to vacationed. It really changed my perspective and put the travel bug in Jordan and I.

By the time we got back we had some finishing touches and A LOT of painting to do but on October 31st we welcomed our tenants in and christened our new house with a Halloween party.

Two of our friends ended up being our renters and it's been working out wonderfully. It's nice to have some built in pals to have drinks with and watch movies with. I'm so glad we chose who we chose to be our tenants!

Now as the year is closing I'm looking forward to a trip to Florida in the first week of the year. This will be the first bit of relaxing we've done in a long while and it's well deserved.

For this coming year I'm very excited to start reaping the rewards of all our hard work. We can finally relax and really focus on ourselves this year. Some of my most anticipated plans for next year include:
- Doing some renovations of our own upstairs so we can finally make the place exactly how we'd like it
- Making a garden in our back yard and getting to enjoy our space this summer with bbqs and parties on our deck
- Getting to spend lots of time relaxing and making memories with friends and family

Hoping this upcoming year finally bears the fruits of our labours!

Happy new year!

I'm Dreaming of Child's Christmas

Christmas is probably the weirdest thing in the entire world once you become an adult. You start asking for home decor, grocery store gift cards, and cold, hard cash. You actually have to work up to and all around this glorious holiday, instead of getting practically a month off like you used to in high school and university. I can't believe there was a time when I used to complain that I had exams until the 20th of December. Now I complain about working between Christmas and New years...as everyone else does. My sister actually said "It should be a crime to be working the week before Christmas," which I found rather funny seeing as she's a stay-at-home Mom but hey, we've got supporters on the other side I guess.

Despite the fact that I'm a full on adult this year who is opening presents at her own house on Christmas morning (so weird), and mostly just celebrating the fact that I'm getting a 4 and a half day weekend (it's the little things, guys), and that it's going to be a GREEN Christmas, I'm still finding time to get into the holiday spirit.

I decorated the house basically the day after Halloween, we bought our very own white Christmas tree this year, and I'm taking time to enjoy the people who actually do get a holiday and are coming home from school or wherever to be with their family and friends.

 << It's a Marshmallow World In the Winter>>

 << Making it a White Christmas whether there is snow or not! >>

 << I went a little crazy this year and decided to do a personalized advent calendar for Jordan. He's pretty happy being spoiled with amazing gifts on a daily basis >>

 << Taking any excuse I can to wear my new scarf from Erika, even when the weather doesn't call for it>>

 << My proud contribution to our girls night >>

<< Silly times with silly friends. So glad everyone is in one place!>>

There's a lot to celebrate this year, even if I have to celebrate it in between stints at the office.

Merry-almost-Christmas!

Renovation Motivation

Before we started looking for houses I warned Jordan that if he wanted us to get a house that needed renovations and if we were going to be spending all of our free time tearing things down, being covered in dry wall dust, and living a life where relaxation was nothing but an unattainable day dream then I was going to be grumpy. I warned him that I was probably going to cry. I warned him that he wouldn't be allowed to get mad at me, that he would have to tell me to work anyways and ignore my whining.

I was pretty spot on with my prediction.

Initially we had been renovating at a really great pace. We were spending every single night in the basement tearing things down and making a huge mess. Things have started to get a little slower at this point. There's a lot more technical stuff to do, I'm usually pretty lost when I go down there, and workers have started to come in and take over. At this point we're right in the middle of it and I am getting burnt out but this is the stuff we trained for. This is the stuff I warned about.

I'm definitely a bit of a grumpy gus and I will offer to do anything else helpful to avoid more renovating. I mow the lawn, I clean the house from top to bottom, I go grocery shopping. Anything to avoid it but also get other important things done.

Luckily I have an amazing person to do this with. Seriously, Jordan never stops. This is definitely his rodeo, I am just one of the clowns. He has set up everything, booked every inspection, met with every plumber, drywaller, and HVAC technician. And he has pushed me through all of this and been totally patient at the same time. This thing would be no where without him.

But honestly, you need to know what you're getting yourself into when you start a reno. I'm talking about how much time, energy and $money$. Like a lot, of money. Take how much you think it will be and then times that by 3. OYE!.

The great thing about it? We're working toward something together that is completely for us. We're doing it all ourselves and it will pay off in the future. I can't wait for it to be over, I'm not going to lie, but I can't wait to see how amazing everything is when we've finished.

Thank you for listening to my mid-renovation ramblings while we're right in the thick of things. Ask me how I feel in two months.

From the desk of:

Taylor Brown
Construction Cry Baby

What Life Looks Like Now

Moving in with Jordan has been one of the biggest changes I've ever made in my life. Sure, I've lived out of my parents house before but it's been nothing like owning my own home. I went from letting my parents completely take care of me to having to work with Jordan so we could take care of each other. I'm so glad that we did it and life, it's looking pretty good now.

Here's what I've been seeing lately:

 << Bills, Bills, Bills! >>

 << Saturday morning breakfasts featuring a few too many chocolate chip pancakes. (We've had to put a stop to this ritual seeing as our chocolate chip bag was getting used way too frequently)>>

 << Nesting >>

<< Learning the fine art of cooking >>

 << Dancing and cleaning every weekend >>

 << Market dates with my parents >>

 << Walks downtown to explore our new city >>

<< The fridge says it so we don't have to >>

 

Not pictured: a wonderful evening where we warmed the house with our friends, renovations upon renovations, many Netflix documentaries over glasses of wine when we just couldn't work any longer.

Life is looking pretty great. I can't wait to see what there is to take a look at next.

From the desk of:

Taylor Brown
Mover and Shaker and a Novice Dinner Maker

What They Don't Tell You: About House Shopping

House shopping looks SO fun on t.v. Seriously, who wouldn't want to meet up with their hot realtor- or hot duo of realtor's, tell them a wish lists and then have that realtor show them three houses and in a week, bing, bang, boom, you gotta house!

Well, that is not what happens okay, not even close!

First things first, find a realtor. Jordan's brother had bought a house the previous year so we went with his realtor. Done.

So we made an appointment, brought a list of or wants and needs and sat down with our realtor. It was a LONG appointment. 3 hours! We listened a lot and Jordan asked way too many questions and we talked about commissions and contracts and it was a.lot. Period.

After that we received a login to a database and we would get notifications of houses for sale and ask our realtor to set up appointment for us. That's one thing you don't hear about: you do a lot of the work too. They don't generally just start showing you houses. You pick the ones you want to see and your realtor is the one who sets it up.

House hunting is not glamorous my friends, there, I said it. It was months of searching with no bites, awkwardly walking into strangers homes and having to walk around while they sat in their living rooms, standing in the freezing cold while talking to our realtor...it was a lot of things. Disclaimer: winter is apparently a slower market for real estate which means less sellers and buyers. Therefore if you find a house you like in the winter you could probably get it for cheaper and have some bargaining room since there is less interest at that time and it's likely that it has been on the market for longer.

Side note; humans are a scary breed. During our house hunting we encountered one hoarder, one person who had more animals than I could count including a turtle, a hamster, two dogs, a cat, a snake and a bunch of animals we probably didn't see, one curious looking blood-like stain, and one man who had no furniture but did have about 25 mattresses stacked in different rooms of his house.

House hunting was exciting, and it was disheartening. I have zero interest in going back to house hunting any time soon, which I think is something people should know.

There is A LOT that goes into buying a house. We sat for hours writing offers that were rejected and that is nothing compared to the hours we spent at banks, with mortgage brokers, and with lawyers.

Near the end I said "I can't believe everyone who has ever bought a house has gone through this."

Honestly, you need to be ready for all this because it is no joke. Once you own the house...well that's where the real work starts.

But more on that later.

From the desk of:

Taylor Brown
HGTV Whistle Blower

*If you have any questions about house hunting contact me using the information here*

Cant' Stop. Won't Stop.

YOU GUYS.

I'm back.

And I have so much to tell you.

Since we last talked my life's been turned upside down. Now I know how the Fresh Prince of Bel Air felt...minus the mansion, and the aunt and uncle to take care of me, or the butler.

It's only been a month since Jordan and I moved into our house but SO much has happened. It feels like a lifetime.

I've been busier than ever before. I work all week, have a part-time job serving on the weekends, and spend every moment in between that helping Jordan renovate. We are so busy! But it's been wonderful!

I can update you on everything when I get more time but for now I'm here to stop by and say hi. (HI!). And let you know I'm still alive but just very, very, busy!

I'll update more soon!

From the desk of:

Taylor Brown
Jack of Every Trade